I went to Occupy Wall Street

Never Done: I went to Occupy Wall Street

I had the day off for Sukes (Sukkot) and so I finally got to go down to Occupy Wall Street. Truly impressive. I was particularly impressed with the gray water system and the General Assembly meeting that operated without electronic amplification -- by a speaker speaking, and then one group of people repeating the statement in loud unison, and then another group farther back into the crowd doing the same, until the word got to the back of the crowd. The meeting was about the proposed cleaning of Zuccotti Park, and how to avoid eviction.

News this morning: the protesters scrubbed the park clean themselves and mobilized thousands of people to come down to support them and protest the eviction, the company who had requested the cleaning withdrew the request, Russell Simmons offered to pay for a cleaning that would not evict the protesters, and it looks like victory for now.

I gave an apple to the Occupy Wall Street subway satellite protester at the 72nd Street subway

Never Done: I gave an apple to the Occupy Wall Street subway satellite protester at the 72nd Street subway

I have not yet been to Zuccotti Park, but I plan to get down there today.

Mutamba came to visit!

Never Done: Mutamba came to visit!

(I walked in the morning and moisturized at night. First day after the new year that I did that on a work day.) But more delightfully, Mutamba arrived from Toronto, to spend 4 days with us and do a sukes musical program at the JCC on Friday night. (It's the second one down, and it's ridiculous that there isn't a photo. Here -- here's the Facebook invitation.) If you're in NY, you should come!

Also, we all went to the YIVO for a 25th year anniversary screening of Josh's film, Partisans of Vilna.

A new year, some new daily commitments

Never Done: I made the agonizing decision not to attend my 30th high school reunion so I could go to the wonderful wonderful wedding of very close friends, one of whom is the architect of Marriage Equality

Also, I made the decision that I am not going to write a lot in my blog posts -- sometimes just the title of what I did. Sometimes, if I have time, I'll expand on that.

Also, I decided that this year, I am going to take a walk every morning and moisturize my face every evening. (It's that morning walking time that will use up my extensive blogging time. Hopefully the moisturizing won't take that much time.)

21 hours in Harvard

Never Done: 21 hours in Harvard, in which I 1) spent the night at Sue and Worth's, and 2) played Wise and Otherwise, and 3) met Rascal (the Durrant's new donkey) and 4) met Matt, the new editor of the Harvard Press

Done before: 1) I took a walk with Tetley and Colin on the road I grew up on, and 2) re-visited Erhart's house, and 3) drank Phil's cider, and 4) visited my parents and Claire's dad at the cemetery, and 5) visited the 1.85 acre property I fantasize about owning.

I did one thing a day I have never done before, for a year

Never Done: I did one thing a day I have never done before, for a year

Here is an excerpt from a journal entry I wrote on yom kippur:

I am at Popham Beach, which is my favorite beach in the world. An estuary wends its way through the sand over the years has completely re-jiggered the topography of this beach, so that every year it looks -- and actually is -- different here. I just walked all over for an hour (fasting, hungry, a little weak) -- rediscovering and remembering and newly discovering, and I realized the metaphor can be applied to our very selves. From year to year we look similar, we are made of the same components -- same legs, same breasts, same mouths -- we remain essentially the same from year to year, and yet in other ways we are completely changed and unrecognizable.

I also want to note for you all that I started my Never Done practice at that beach a year ago. As the tide comes in at Popham Beach, the estuary fills in. It's important not to get caught on the wrong side of it. Last year, for the first time ever, after going to that beach for 45 years, I got caught on the wrong side -- with the same young person (and his mom and Josh) who came to shul with me for kol nidre. We had to wade across the cold, swift water, up to our chests, getting completely drenched -- but we crossed safely. And that was the moment I noticed that my Never Done practice was going to include some surprises -- that it wasn't going to be all hot air balloon rides and trips to Berlin.

And so it felt perfect to be back at Popham, and to cross the estuary many times, and at the end of the day, to look back at the year, in dry clothes, from the right side of the estuary.

I brought friends to Kol Nidre in Bath, Maine

Never Done: I brought friends to Kol Nidre in Bath, Maine

It was the last day of the Never Done year, and I felt like doing something really big -- Extreme Never Done. But also, it was absolutely gorgeous weather -- the first gorgeous weather of our vacation -- and truly, all I wanted to do was be outside, walk in the woods, sit on the rocks, look at the river. Also, I had to clean the gutters, go to the dump, start the process of closing the house up for the winter. And so, with the benefit of a year's practice and reflection, I decided not to worry about finding an amazing Never Done activity, and to just let the day unfold.

And it did unfold. I felt a little sad that my time here was ending, and I also felt grateful for the time I had, and I also enjoyed the air and the sun and the scent of balsam fir. For the loons on the river, the bald eagle soaring, and leaves just starting to turn.

And as the day unfolded, I was in touch with my friends in Brunswick -- a mom and a 10-year-old -- who have never been to Kol Nidre service. (The boy has never been to shul.) I invited them to join us, and they accepted the invitation, and so at the end of the beautiful day, we met for organic local burgers in Bath, ME for my pre-fast meal (I was the only one of the three fasting. Our friends are not observant, and Josh, having recently been sick, was encouraged not to tax his body in that way.

And then we went to the shul I've been going to for the High Holidays for many years now -- an egalitarian congregation called Beth Israel. The part I want to mention is that it was my first time bringing a young person with me to shul, which I thoroughly enjoyed. He was completely focused, he sang along, he read the transliterated Hebrew, he asked questions -- he was so absorbent! And just at the point that we were coming up to the part that I personally find to be the heart of the service, and I leaned over and whispered that to his mother, he asked me if I could accompany him to the bathroom.

The part I loved about this was that even though it was the heart of the service for me, I was not at all torn about leaving to help him out. In fact, it felt like a perfect request at a perfect moment -- because in this year in which I thought I would have my own child by yom kippur, I welcomed the reminder that I have started to think like a parent, and have started to balance my own desires and focus against those of someone younger. In essence, I took the request as a gift, and not an interruption or a disappointment. And also, it was a reminder that even though I didn't get where I wanted to get -- to actually be a parent by now -- I have laid a lot of groundwork, and will be more ready when it does eventually happen that if it had happened sooner.

What a perfect end to this year.